Discussion

Solo dining in Oak Lawn/Turtle Creek, Dallas

Bostonian who will be in the city for two nights in December (this weekend actually), staying at the Warwick Melrose (3015 Oak Lawn Ave) with a lot of other anxious exam takers who will all probably compound my own anxiety. As I would like to try to get away and enjoy some meals, any recommendations for places within walking distance from the intersection of Oak Lawn and Lemmon (less than 20 minutes; no cab rides)? I'm not a wine drinker so great wine selection isn't a factor. I'm not looking for the singles scene, just a excellent meal to enjoy by myself. And safely walk back to my hotel. Thanks!

There are several decent restaurants in the Centrum Building across the street...Steel, Bengal Coast and Silver Fox Steakhouse. Also, the best vegetarian (so I here is a block away....Cosmic Cup.

One of my favorite vietnamese places is a block away....Green Papaya.

Two blocks away is a fantastic place called Parigi's.

If you want Italian a block or two away....Danielle Osteria.

And one of the best "foodie" hangouts around is about two or three blocks away with very fresh prepared foods to go (or eat in), bakery, salads, fresh fruits and veggies all very fresh stuff...Eatzi's. Check it out just for a stress break if anything else there's all kinds of goodies in that place.

Thanks for the suggestions!Last night I tried the Landmark Restaurant in the hotel. I had the foie gras parfait ($18), which was a layered construction of smooth foie gras custard, tasty roasted wild boar, and sherry foam. The foam was appropriately boozy, but I would have prefered less foam and more custard for balance. I also had the diver scallops for my main dish - this was not so well constructed, although quite lovely plating. The grilled scallops ($28) were a bit overdone and chewy, and the peas too hard. The flavors would have been great, with the chorizo's not-too-salty character going well with the smooth garlic flan, but the two awful textures of the scallops and peas doomed the dish.Overall not particularly satisfying for ths price.

Today I'll be trying Green Papaya and Bengal Coast, so I'll post those experiences later tonight.

Green Papaya: Ordered carryout from here - the bun with the charcoal roasted pork. Huge portions, and quite tasty. The nuoc mam was on the spicier side that what I'm used to, but it was good.Decided against Bengal Coast since we knew of a test-taker who caught some sort of GI bug from there and had to do her oral exam with a bucket to vomit in, so instead we picked a safer restaurant - Palamino. Required short taxi ride, about $5-8 dollars. I got the lobser ravioli, which consisted of two gigantic ravioli stuffed with chunks of lobster, with a bit of sweet tomato sauce and a lump of herbed marsapone cheese that could be rubbed into the sauce to make it creamy, $23. My DC got the small plate of kale and the caesar salad with tuna fish (brain food), which she thought was done well.